The use of wire food product carriers in automatic food cooking machines has been disclosed in several U.S. patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,499,380, 4,947,741 and 4,103,606. Generally, food carriers comprise a multiplicity of wire baskets with lids. The food carriers are attachable to an endless conveyor for conveying and guiding the wire baskets containing food products to be cooked parallel to a heat source within the machine and for rotating the baskets to expose both sides of the food products to the heat source within the cooking machine.
The food carriers are readily removable through an access opening to allow wire baskets containing food products to be added to or removed from the cooking machine. The food carriers are retained on a conveyor assembly inside the cooking machine by retractable pins extending through wire retaining loops in the baskets. Because the wire carriers are rotated during cooking, they each include a fastening latch for securing the lid to the basket. The fastening latch is a simple metal piece affixed to the lid, much like a simple door hasp. The fastening latch hangs down from the lid through the food compartment of the basket and hooks to the inside of the basket. This latch creates additional cleaning and handling problems and provides little security against accidental opening. Upon removal from the automatic cooking machine, the carriers are generally too hot to be handled without gloves, and the additional latch components are difficult to unfasten while the operator is wearing gloves.